U.S. patent application number 13/552386 was filed with the patent office on 2013-02-14 for blind cord winder.
This patent application is currently assigned to RHOOST LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Vianka P. BELYEA, Tavinder PHULL. Invention is credited to Vianka P. BELYEA, Tavinder PHULL.
Application Number | 20130037643 13/552386 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47676913 |
Filed Date | 2013-02-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130037643 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BELYEA; Vianka P. ; et
al. |
February 14, 2013 |
BLIND CORD WINDER
Abstract
A cord winder device that may be used to shorten the length of a
pull cord that hangs from a window covering, such that it can
adjust the exposed length of window blinds. The cord winder device
includes a spindle and sides that overlap the spindle. A cord
hanging from the window covering may be wound around the spindle so
that the length of the cord is reduced. Reducing the height of the
cord may keep the cord out of reach of children and prevent injury.
The sides of the spindle may have slots to secure the cord to the
cord winder device after it is wound around the spindle.
Inventors: |
BELYEA; Vianka P.; (Boston,
MA) ; PHULL; Tavinder; (Newton, MA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BELYEA; Vianka P.
PHULL; Tavinder |
Boston
Newton |
MA
MA |
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
RHOOST LLC
Newton
MA
|
Family ID: |
47676913 |
Appl. No.: |
13/552386 |
Filed: |
July 18, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61509430 |
Jul 19, 2011 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
242/118 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 75/4473 20130101;
B65H 2701/35 20130101; B65H 75/28 20130101; E06B 9/326
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
242/118 |
International
Class: |
B65H 75/18 20060101
B65H075/18 |
Claims
1. A cord winder device comprising: a substantially planar top
piece having a first area; including: a bottom piece having a
substantially planar portion that is parallel to the top piece; and
a spindle perpendicular to the top piece and extending from the top
piece to the bottom piece; the bottom piece including an outer
edge, and further including a first slot and a second slot, each of
the first and second slots extending inwardly from the outer edge
of the bottom piece.
2. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the first slot and/or
the second slot terminates in a notch running at a skewed angle to
the direction of the respective slot.
3. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the bottom piece has
ends that are angled upwardly and toward the top piece.
4. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the top piece and/or
the bottom piece are elongated along a first direction.
5. The cord winder device of claim 4, wherein the top piece and the
bottom piece are each elongated along the first direction.
6. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the top piece and/or
the bottom piece have curved ends.
7. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the spindle has a
hole that extends parallel to the top piece.
8. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the cord winder
device is made of substantially rigid material.
9. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the cord winder
device is made of one of plastic, hard rubber, metal, or wood.
10. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the cord winder
device is made of one monolithic piece.
11. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the cord winder
device is made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
plastic.
12. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the bottom piece has
an exterior face that is shaped to be mountable on a wall.
13. The cord winder device of claim 1, wherein the slots extend
inwardly from and have opposite ends and opposite sides of the
bottom piece.
14. A method of reducing the length of a pull cord hanging from a
window covering using the cord winder device of claim 1, the method
comprising winding a length of the cord around an outer surface of
the spindle and allowing the cord winder device to hang freely from
the window covering while attached to the cord.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising inserting one or
more lengths of the cord into the first slot and/or the second slot
of the cord winder device to secure the cord to the cord winder
device.
16. A cord winder device comprising: a top piece; a bottom piece; a
spindle extending between the top piece and the bottom piece;
wherein the top piece and the bottom piece are each elongated along
a first direction, and wherein one of the top and bottom pieces has
an inwardly extending slot.
17. The cord winder device of claim 16, wherein the slot terminates
in a notch running at a skewed angle to the direction of the
slot.
18. The cord winder device of claim 16, wherein the spindle has a
hole ending through the spindle.
19. The cord winder device of claim 16, wherein the cord winder
device is made of substantially rigid material.
20. The cord winder device of claim 16, wherein the cord winder
device is made of one monolithic piece.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 61/509,430, filed Jul. 19, 2011, the entire
contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This disclosure generally relates to safety devices for
window coverings.
[0003] Window blinds, shades, and curtains are available in a
variety of styles. Window treatments often have a top rail or rod,
and, in the case of many horizontal blinds, a bottom rail. Shading
material either hangs from the top rail, or between the top and
bottom rails if there are multiple rails. The shading material can
be vertical or horizontal slats, paper, mesh, or fabric. Pull cords
are often used to adjust the amount of material covering the window
to permit more or less light to pass through the window. Many
window coverings use long looping pull cords or two-end pull cord
that dangle in front of or beside the window covering. Because
these cords dangle near the floor within children's reach, they
present a household danger. People, and especially children, can be
strangled, choke, or become tangled in dangling pull cords.
[0004] Some devices that keep cords out of children's reach require
that the device be mounted on a wall with screws or adhesive, and
are therefore aesthetically unpleasing, some require tools to
install or uninstall, and can damage walls to which they are
affixed. Further, many currently-available devices use pulleys,
wheels, or complicated multi-piece assemblies that make the devices
difficult to use and more expensive to make.
[0005] The device can be made as an inexpensive, simple, one-piece
blind cord winder device that does not require mounting or
complicated methods for winding cords to keep them out of
children's reach.
SUMMARY
[0006] The blind cord winder described here can be simple,
inexpensive, and can be made as a one-piece device for raising
dangling pull cords out of children's reach by allowing pull cords
to be wound around and secured to the device.
[0007] The blind cord winder includes, and can consist or consist
essentially of, a top portion, a bottom portion, and a spindle. The
top and bottom portions are separated by the spindle. Pull cords
are wound around the spindle and the top and bottom portions hold
the wound cord in place. The bottom portion can have slots, which
can terminate in notches, to help secure ends of pull cords to the
device.
[0008] The size of the blind cord winder can vary depending on the
length and thickness of the pull cord it is configured to accept.
The blind cord winder can be any general shape, and can be made out
of a substantially rigid material such as plastic.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The following figures are provided for the purpose of
illustration only and are not intended to be limiting.
[0010] FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of the blind cord
winder.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the blind cord
winder.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a top view of the blind cord winder.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the blind cord winder.
[0014] FIG. 5 is an end perspective view of the blind cord
winder.
[0015] FIG. 6 is an end view of the blind cord winder.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a side perspective view of the blind cord winder
in operation.
[0017] FIG. 8 is a side perspective view of the blind cord winder
in operation.
[0018] FIG. 9 is a front view of two blind cord winders in
operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] A blind cord winder device 10 around which pull cords (e.g.,
of the type commonly used to open and close window coverings) are
wrapped. A portion of a pull cord is wound around and secured to
the device 10 to keep ends of cords out of children's reach to
prevent children from choking on, being strangled by, or tangled in
dangling cords. The blind cord winder 10 hangs freely from cords as
shown in FIG. 7, and optionally can be mounted on or affixed to
walls or other surfaces. The one-piece configuration makes the
device 10 simple to use and inexpensive to make.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 1, the blind cord winder 10 has a top
portion 12 and a bottom portion 14, which are separated by a
spindle 16. As shown in FIG. 8, the pull cord is wound around the
spindle 16 and between the top portion 12 and bottom portion 14 to
prevent the wound cord from slipping off the spindle 16. Further,
in some embodiments such as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom portion 14
has one or more slots 18 for receiving a portion of the pull cord
to secure the cord in place. The slots 18 are openings at the outer
edge of the bottom portion 14 that extend into the body of the
bottom portion 14. Referring again to FIG. 4, the bottom portion 14
may also have slots 18 that terminate in one or more notches 20,
which further help to prevent unwinding. The length of the notches
20 generally runs perpendicular to the length of the slots 18.
However, the notches 20 can be configured in any direction skewed
from the slots and capable of securing cords. The spindle 16
optionally has openings 22 as shown in FIG. 1. The openings 22 help
prevent complete blockage of the airway in the event a child
swallows the device 10.
[0021] The blind cord winder 10 can have any general shape. For
example, FIGS. 1-6 show a top portion 12 and a bottom portion 14
that are oval shaped. The bottom portion 14 and top portion 12 are
generally planar. In addition, in some embodiments, the bottom
portion 14 has raised ends or sides to help keep pull cords wrapped
around the device 10. For example, FIGS. 1, 5, and 6 show a
generally planar bottom portion 14 with two ends that are each
raised at an incline.
[0022] The dimensions of the top and the bottom portions 12, 14 are
greater than that of the spindle 16. However, the dimensions of the
top portion 12 can be greater than, less than, or the same as the
dimensions of the bottom portion 14. The thickness of the spindle
16 and size of the top and bottom portions 12, 14 vary depending on
the length and thickness of the cord it is configured to
accommodate. For example, a thicker cord, such as a chain or beaded
pull cord, may require a larger top portion 12, larger bottom
portion 14, or a smaller spindle 16 than a pull cord made of thin
rope. As shown in FIG. 9, two or more blind cord winders 10 can be
used to raise long cords out of children's reach.
[0023] The top portion 12, bottom portion 14, and spindle 16 can be
fabricated as a single piece or as multiple components permanently
joined by adhesive or some other fastening means. The blind cord
winder 10 can be made of any substantially rigid material,
preferably, but not necessarily a substantially rigid, light-weight
material. In a one embodiment, the blind cord winder 10 is made of
plastic, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic, commonly
known as ABS plastic. In another embodiment, the blind cord winder
10 can be made of hard rubber, metal, wood or any other
substantially rigid material.
[0024] As will be apparent, the embodiments can be provided forms
other than those specifically disclosed above. The particular
embodiments described above are, therefore, to be considered as
illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art will
recognize, or be able to ascertain, equivalents to the specific
embodiments described herein. For example, the top portion 12 and
bottom portion 14 of the blind cord winder 10 can be configured to
have any general shape capable of holding pull cords in place,
including an oval, circular, rectangular, triangular, or
square-shaped. The top portion 12 and bottom portion 14 can be the
same or different shapes. Similarly, the width and overall shape of
the spindle 16 can vary.
* * * * *